Again, thanks to our friend, master editor Luisa Winters, for these recommendations for those captioning using Final Cut Pro.

To work with closed captions in Final Cut Pro X (FCPX) we need to have the project open and the timeline available. So, just like with Premiere Pro, we do this after the video has been completed and approved by the client. To create captions from scratch, select the range to which you’d like to add the caption. Then go to Edit > Captions > Add Caption. A floating window will appear and also the Caption Inspector opens up on the right side of the screen. You can type the text you’d like to use in either one. By default, this caption will be iTunes Timed Text (iTT). The language will also be in English (in the US). You can change the format and language by clicking on the chevron next to the word “English” in the Caption Inspector and choosing “Edit Roles”. The Roles panel opens up and from here you can click on the plus sign next to the words “Caption Roles” and add another format. You can also add another language by clicking on the plus sign to the left of the word “English” and add whatever language you’d like. Once you are done, click the Apply button. Now you have two different roles for captions that you can use. You can choose the format and language of your caption, and any subsequent captions you add will keep the role of the previous one. The captions will appear at the top of the timeline, and the language and type of Caption will appear at the top left of the timeline. In the Timeline Index, in the Roles tab, you can choose to turn the captions on and off, and you can also hide them. If you have more than one role in your captions, you can choose which one you’d like to see. Simply playing the timeline will show you the captions, if set in the Timeline Index. If you need to edit a caption, you may do so using the Caption Inspector panel. In here you can change the text and also some of the properties of the caption; properties include text color and style, placement, and timing. You will notice that the different caption formats will have different options in the Caption Inspector. If you decide to change some of these properties, you can save the changes as a new Default style by clicking on the little chevron to the right of the word “Display”. You can then apply this new style to any captions you may have selected. You can use the arrow keys at the top of the Caption Inspector panel to navigate to the previous and next caption. You can also double click directly on the caption in the timeline; this will open a panel that will allow you to edit the text of that caption. This panel also has the arrows that let you navigate to the previous and next captions. To close the panel, single click on a caption. I can also adjust the timing of the caption by dragging on the edges of the caption. This is fast and intuitive. If you sent the video to be transcribed to a company specializing in that service, you can import the captions file and sync it with the timeline. This is an easy process.FCPX supports CEA-608, iTT, and SRT file formats.

• Choose File > Import > Captions
• Select the file you have
• The “Import as Role” will be selected automatically, depending on the format of your Captions
• Choose the language
• Specify the insertion time: absolute or relative to the timeline

You can also use SpeedScriber if all you need is dialogue. But remember that captions have more than just dialogue; they contain sound cues and descriptions of the different noises present in your work. 

To export your captions (and only your captions) go to File > Export Captions. Choose a name and where to save and click on export. To export the video with the captions to iTunes, you can choose File > Send iTMS Package to Compressor. You can also send the timeline to compressor by going to File > Send To Compressor. You can also export a Master File from the Share Menu and can export the caption from here, even selecting in the Roles tab, to export each language as a separate file, or to embed directly into the video (cannot embed iTT format captions, but can burn them in). Working with captions in FCPX is fast, intuitive, and robust. There are many other features you can adjust with captions here, but it goes beyond the scope of this book. Start by captioning a short clip and then continue to larger and larger projects. You won’t be disappointed!